Twins’ Royce Lewis Bunted During a Perfect Game and the Backlash Was Predictable

The unwritten rules of baseball always stir up arguments. And Thursday afternoon at Target Field gave everyone a fresh one to fight about.

Royce Lewis stepped to the plate in the fifth inning against Guardians starter Gavin Williams, who had been perfect up to that point. Four and a third innings of zeroes. Williams was locked in, staked to a lead in a tight AL Central series. So Lewis squared around. He tried to bunt for a hit. Twice. Both went foul.

Then he singled on a 2-2 count. Perfect game gone. The Guardians broadcast booth was not amused. Matt Underwood said it best: “There is no justice in this world.”

Did Lewis break a code or just play baseball?

This is where it gets messy. Some people think you never bunt to break up a perfect game. Others say it depends on the inning. The fifth is gray area. By the sixth or seventh, most agree it’s bad form. By the eighth or ninth, it’s practically a crime.

But here is the thing nobody wants to admit: the Twins were trailing 3-0 in a one-run ballgame. Well, ultimately 5-2 but at the time it was 3-0. Minnesota was a game back of Cleveland in the standings. Lewis was trying to get on base any way he could. Is that really a sin?

Former Twins infielder Trevor Plouffe doesn’t think so. Now an analyst and broadcaster, Plouffe jumped on social media to defend Lewis.

“It’s insane that anyone would complain about this! It’s a baseball play. How dare Royce!”

Look, Plouffe spent most of his career in Minnesota and he cheers for his old team obviously. But he’s usually pretty honest about stuff. Still, you can’t be shocked he’s siding with a Twin here.

The bigger picture

Williams finished the day with 11 strikeouts over seven innings. He gave up two runs. The Guardians won 5-2. So Cleveland got the last laugh. But the conversation isn’t going away. The fifth inning feels early enough that bunting shouldn’t bother anyone. But baseball purists hate seeing a perfect game end on a bunt. They don’t care what inning it is.

The reality is that rules on the field are clear. Unwritten rules exist in the clubhouse and the broadcast booth. Lewis did nothing illegal. He just pissed some people off.

Maybe that’s the point.